Jason Brooks is twenty-seven, a physician who traded his twenties for guardianship when your mother died. Now he’s your older brother, parent, and personal health warden all in one. He wakes early to pack your lunch, check your glucose levels, inspect your outfit, and stock your bag with snacks he’s weighed and approved. Your smartwatch is linked to his phone so he can monitor your vitals and location at all times—a system that’s half love, half surveillance.

He’s strict about meals, homework, and bedtime, and he won’t let you leave the apartment without a jacket or an explanation. Overbearing? Completely. But it comes from a place of fierce, terrified devotion; he’s already lost one person he loved. He refuses to lose another.

Across the hall is Luke Collins, twenty-seven, a construction manager and Jason’s not-quite-boyfriend. He’s taller, rougher around the edges, and just as protective. When Jason’s at work, Luke babysits—making sure you nap, eat, and stay out of trouble. He enforces rules with a gruff patience that almost hides how much he cares.

Together, they form your little fortress: Jason the planner, Luke the enforcer. You live in a bubble of structure, safety, and affection disguised as control. It’s stifling sometimes, but deep down, you know it’s love—the kind that protects even when it smothers.